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ATP CUPJanuary 5, 2020Tim HenmanJamie MurrayJoe SalisburySydney, New South Wales, Australia MURRAY-SALISBURY/Gille-Vliegen 6-3, 7-6 Team Great Britain - 2 Team Belgium - 1 THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Joe, you and Jamie are obviously a new combination. How is it gelling? Sometimes it seemed a little bit awkward, but you came through in the end. JOE SALISBURY: Yeah, I mean, I think it's been really good, to be honest. I wasn't sure how it would work out playing together. Obviously it was the first match the other day. Yeah, it can take a bit of time. There is obviously maybe one or two points or one or two shots where it might not be quite on the same wavelength, but I think overall we did a good job of sort of gelling pretty well. Yeah, I have enjoyed playing with him, and I think we have come up with some good stuff together. Q. Tim, just on Dan, I don't know how you feel sort of working with him for, like, a week now, and it's been talked about before that you and him may have a few comparisons in your style... TIM HENMAN: Right, both right-handed. Q. Yes. JAMIE MURRAY: Similar personalities, as well. (Laughter.) Q. Similar background? I mean, seriously, do you think you may be able to help him as a new voice, having come from a similar style of play? TIM HENMAN: I think you have fundamentally got to ask him that question. But the way I have seen him practice and the way that, you know, his style of play, how he can be proactive in certain shots that I certainly used to work on, backhand down the line to open up the opportunities, use your forehand to move forward, using the slice to change the pace, sometimes bringing them in, sometimes going forward, I think he can do it very, very well. And we saw that today. The challenge is how long it can last for. You know, with his personality to have that focus of attention is not always easy for him. But to play at that level against Goffin and, you know, be able to finish the job off was incredibly impressive. You know, it's the mentality of playing it point by point. We have worked hard on trying to really hit his spots on his serve so it gives him an opportunity to dictate the rally. And on the opponent's serve, looking to have that variation so your opponent doesn't really know the way you're going to play and breaking it down point for point. He did that exceptionally well when, you know, Goffin's level started to rise at the end of the second set. Q. I think at this stage you can probably claim that GB are kings of drama of the tournament to date. How are you coping with that stress, Tim? TIM HENMAN: You know, I said after our first match that I absolutely loved it. You know, the result was disappointing. We obviously got very, very close to winning that tie. And likewise today I couldn't have enjoyed it anymore. You know, we talk about there not really being any scripts in sport, and that's why we go out and play. I don't think you would have necessarily predicted the way the matches unfolded. You know, Cam had a difficult time. I thought Darcis was very impressive. He really showed his experience and his variation, and I think Cam, you know, needs to learn to be a bit street wiser to understand how to adapt his game when things aren't, you know, going quite as well as he would like. But, you know, those types of matches I think is a very steep learning curve. He will be disappointed with his performance, but I think, you know, that type of match he'll learn a lot from, and, you know, be able to utilize that experience further down the line. Q. Tim, will you get bogged down in the various qualification scenarios, or do you just look at winning three now on Tuesday? TIM HENMAN: When you have staff as efficient as Nicola, you just leave it to them. Control the controllables, you know. We will go out there and -- JAMIE MURRAY: You have already tweeted about it, haven't you, Stu? TIM HENMAN: Blind leading the blind (laughter). No, we have prepared since I got here on the 29th. The boys have been fantastic on the practice court, and, you know, their performance on the match court has been excellent. You know, it's more of the same. So it's a great result to be 1-Love down and turn this one around. We will prepare properly and be ready to go in our next match. Q. It was yesterday morning, in effect, when that match finished against the Bulgarians. I mean, I presume it's pretty hard to kind of get to sleep quickly for you after that. JAMIE MURRAY: I went to bed at 4:30. By the time we did our stuff, it was, like, 3:30. To be honest, by that state, I was so tired I don't think it mattered. I almost felt more tired today than waking up the next morning. It was like second-day syndrome. Yeah, it's difficult, but, I mean, we managed to come through that match. I think for us -- like, Evo played an amazing match today. Me, personally, I don't know how Joe felt, but I was, like, I cannot let that slide. We had another chance at it to win a title, and we can't let it go again. We've got to win that match and make his performance count for something. I don't know what we've got to do, but at least we're still alive in the event. Q. Tim, obviously you haven't been involved so much in the performance side of tennis. I just wondered, was today, especially towards the end, were some of the old feelings coming back? Do you feel as good as you maybe felt that last weekend you retired, that Davis Cup tie in '07? TIM HENMAN: I don't think you can compare playing and sitting on the side of the court. I think sitting on the side of the court as a player I found very unenjoyable, whereas being a captain, you know, these two matches I have absolutely loved it. The atmosphere -- I think this sort of bench scenario works very, very well. I think the banter, we keep it pretty light and, you know, but we're out there, you know, playing for each other and having fun. So I think I have been a little bit surprised how much I have enjoyed that aspect. I didn't really quite know what to expect, but it's something I have really, really enjoyed. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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